whit3rd wrote:
On Sunday, September 30, 2012 3:44:40 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:37:40 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd

wrote:

On Tuesday, September 25, 2012 12:29:02 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

The current version is DeOxit from Caig Labs. It comes in an amazing
variety of forms, and is allegedly non-corrosive.


Those 'forms' are mainly volatile solvents, the residue is the
same old stuff.

The MSDS data shows the active ingredients as a "trade secret". Oh
well.


It isn't much of a secret; the patent dates back to late sixties; it's a
liquid semiconductor that makes a tenacious film/coating.



I couldn't find a German patent. What's a liquid semiconductor?

I'm looking at US patent 4696832; there are probably others, the patent
refers to prior use of these materials. It's a long-chain molecule with decorations,
so the 'formula' is complex (mainly lots of different chain lengths).

Semiconductors have few free charge carriers, but low electric fields cause
breakdown (really, charge injection at metal contacts). So, that's the kind of
behavior this liquid is engineered for. In thin sections (one micron) it's
just about like a conductor, but in long tracks (one millimeter) it insulates.
The nonlinearity of its conduction makes it suitable for sloshing onto
insulating surfaces.

over 20 years ago in the US, they sold some amazingly expensive liquid to
slosh on your DIP, SIPP and ZIP memory chips to make them not error out in
their sockets. The stuff was sold as being super magical and ultra
engineered magic. Just pressing stuff back into their sockets always
worked just fine for me.